Some say M.F.A. programs are better at nurturing egos (for a price) than actual writing careers, but N.M. Kelby–with her Pushcart Prize nomination and M.F.A. from Hamline Universit–is here to tell you that’s not true. Kelby left the Twin Cities for Florida after collecting her degree, but we still have a claim on her. Her work includes plays staged at numerous local theaters, three complex, funny, and successful novels, and a fat pile of short stories, a couple of which have been picks for NPR’s Selected Shorts program. Kelby’s new book, Whale Season, is clearly not the work of a local writer. Ribald, adventuresome, and fast-paced, it’s more Carl Hiaasen than Robert Bly. Which is just fine by us.
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